Middle Grade
Pasta Girls by Taylor Tracy
Hot-headed and energetic Romea Marino is starting ninth grade with a full plate. Between confusing social dynamics of high school and juggling extracurriculars, Ro can only find peace in the reliable comfort of her kitchen, where she’s able to follow in her dad’s culinary footsteps, whipping up Italian-fusion recipes.
Thoughtful and reserved Julianna Cangelosi is dying to help in her family’s restaurant, which serves traditional Italian dishes. But because Jules suffers from anxiety and struggles with overstimulation, her parents are wary of their daughter being in the chaos of a New York City kitchen.
When Ro and Jules meet on the first night of the San Gennaro Festival, sparks fly…until they learn that their fathers own dueling Italian restaurants across the street from each other. But the more the girls hang out—Ro teaching Jules how to cook; Jules taking Ro to her favorite spots around the city—the more their feelings grow. Can they rewrite the old tale of star-crossed kids from rival families and create a new recipe for love and friendship?
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Young Adult
You’ve Goth My Heart by L.C. Rosen
When Gray gets a wrong number text, he’s pretty sure it’s a serial killer—or, worse, his ex—on the other end of the line. But being anonymous actually helps them open up to each other, and Gray finds himself hopeful that this could be his dream goth crush. All they have to do is meet—on Halloween, the night of Sleepy Hollow’s big house-decorating contest, and the perfect opportunity for Gray to show his mystery texter his true feelings. But between Gray’s closeted ex coming back into the picture, a cute but obnoxious new goth kid vying to win the contest, and a serial killer lurking around, killing local gay teens, Gray’s prospects are looking grim. Come Halloween, he’ll either get his dream guy or die trying…
Everything She Does is Magic by Bridget Morrissey
In the charming town of Fableview, every day is Halloween.
Darcy Keller, resident ray of sunshine and town spirit princess, loves every moment of Fableview’s fall festivities. But she’s also really ready to leave for college next year, even though her parents expect her to stay and take over their Halloween empire.
Enter brooding new girl Anya Doyle, a real-life witch and almost a full member of her coven. In order to be initiated, she has to choose a mortal ally to act as her “protector.” But having moved around so much, Anya is completely friendless. So she does what any self-respecting teenage almost-witch would—she lies and tells her coven her secret crush, Darcy, is willing to do the job.
The solution? Work together, of course. The girls agree to help each other out, attending everything from a costume parade to a pumpkin patch party to an apple bobbing contest together. But with Anya’s magical powers and Darcy’s future independence on the line, the last thing they need is the added complication of pesky feelings . . .
Everything About You by Robby Weber
“You never know what’s going to happen, Milo. No matter how hard you try to control things, this is our summer in Paris, and it might just be unpredictable. There might just be boys.”
Milo is determined to have the most magical summer in Paris after winning an apprenticeship at a prestigious fashion house. The plan is simple: work hard, impress the team, and land a permanent job. With his best friend Celeste by his side, nothing will stand in his way of getting what he wants—especially not a boy.
Enter Rhodes Hamilton: London’s resident tabloid magnet and the son of a famous footballer. Milo is devastated to learn that Rhodes’ connections have also landed him an apprenticeship, which means he’s now the competition. Milo knows he has to win at any cost, so he can’t risk getting close to Rhodes, no matter how nice and charming and cute he is…
Adult Fiction
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
Alien meets Midsommar in this chilling debut adult novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White about identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion in rural West Virginia.
Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia. In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation. A fresh start. It’s an offer that none refuse.
Crane is grateful. Among his hive’s followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won’t destroy him. He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant—and the hive demands the child’s birth, no matter the cost—Crane’s desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.
The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark.
As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the wood’s curse has plagued her village, but the Ozmini Church only comes to collect its tithe, not to protect heretics with false stories of monsters in the trees. So when a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes an impossible bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings the monster out, he will spare her mother from execution.
When she ventures into the shadowed woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only if Malka helps her fulfill a promise first and free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.
But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save―and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.
The Lone Wolf Cafe by Sydney Wilder
Nettie Clarke has never known the world beyond Hollenboro, her tiny home island off the coast of Maine. So when she abruptly flees with few belongings, no money, and no idea where to go, things get complicated.
Mainly because she’s a werewolf.
After arriving on the mainland, she comes across Wisteria Grove, a witch village hidden deep in the forest, and seeks shelter in a local cafe. There, she is confronted the owner, Rowena Hawthorne, the town’s surly and introverted herbalist. Impressed by Nettie’s baking skills, Rowena makes her an offer: work as the cafe’s resident baker and pretend to be a witch, and she’ll be paid enough to make it worth her time.
At first it seems like a great deal, and Nettie only plans to stay for a few weeks before taking off to see the rest of the world. But as the days pass, her baking skills grow, she befriends the local elementals, and she (reluctantly) finds Rowena attractive. All of which makes it harder for her to leave.
But as Nettie and Rowena’s bond deepens, so does the danger. Nettie’s safety is at stake if the village finds out she’s a werewolf, and her ears and tail won’t stop popping out when she gets stressed. And Nettie isn’t the only one with a secret to hide. Wisteria Grove is full of mysteries, all of which seem to trace back to Rowena. Despite warnings from the rest of the village, Nettie continues to fall for the herbalist witch, eager to discover the truth.
But the past has its claws sunk deep into Wisteria Grove, and Nettie will have to confront her own secrets — as well as Rowena’s — to stay in the town she’s grown to love.
Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela
The narrator of Middle Spoon appears to be living the dream: He has a doting husband, two precocious children, all the comforts of a quiet bourgeois life—and a sexy younger boyfriend to accompany him to farmers markets and cocktail parties. But when his boyfriend abruptly dumps him, he spirals into heartbreak for the first time and must confront a world still struggling to understand polyamorous relationships. Faced with the judgment of friends and the sting of rejection, he’s left to wonder if sharing a life with both his family and his lover could ever truly be possible.
Hot Wax by M.L. Rio
Summer, 1989: ten-year-old Suzanne is drawn like a magnet to her father’s forbidden world of electric guitars and tricked-out cars. When her mother remarries, she jumps at the chance to tag along on the concert tour that just might be Gil and the Kills’ wild ride to glory. But fame has sharper fangs than anybody realized, and as the band blazes up the charts, internal power struggles set Gil and his group on a collision course destined for a bloody reckoning—one shrouded in mystery and lore for decades to come.
The only witness to a desperate act of violence, Suzanne spends the next twenty-nine years trying to disappear. She trades the music and mayhem of her youth for the quiet of the suburbs and the company of her mild-mannered husband Rob. But when her father’s sudden death resurrects the troubled past she tried so hard to bury, she leaves it all behind and hits the road in search of answers. Hitching her fate and Gil’s beloved car to two vagabonds who call an old Airstream trailer home, she finds everything she thought she’d lost forever: desire, adventure, and the woman she once wanted to be. But Rob refuses to let her go. Determined to bring her back where she belongs, he chases her across the country—and drives her to a desperation all her own.
Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee
Harriet Lockhart never planned to marry. The educated daughter of a high-class prostitute, Harry has spent her life defying expectations: playing male roles in bawdy Shakespearean productions on London’s seediest stages, pursuing the many women who adore her, and wearing whatever she pleases, so long as it’s well tailored—all while being subsidized by her late mother’s trust. When she is contacted out of the blue by her hitherto anonymous father, she finds herself at risk of losing the trust that he actually funds unless she acquiesces to his request that she lead a more respectable life, starting with finding a husband.
Emily Sergeant, on the other hand, has only ever wanted to marry. She is the modest, tea-sipping, soft-spoken Regency bride. And were it not for one mistake in her youth that rendered her a social pariah, she would be appropriately betrothed. Instead, she’s due to wed the only willing man in her small town: the abominable Robert Tweed. Desperate for an alternative, Emily flees to London for the summer to snag a less lecherous fiancé before she’s shackled to a scoundrel.
Worlds collide, dramatically and hilariously, when both women decide on the very same duke as their best possible chance at a tolerable husband and the security that he brings. A tongue-in-cheek romp through London’s summer season, from balls to brothels, horseraces to duels, Harry and Emily compete for the duke’s favor, only to find their true hearts’ desires may be more compatible than they ever could have predicted.
The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson
William Thorn had his life all planned out… until his long-term boyfriend Archie cheats, breaking his heart. Distraught, William kicks him out of their home, where tragedy strikes when Archie is killed instantly in a car accident.
Riddled with guilt, William is shocked to learn that he’s inherited a manor in the quaint village of Stonewall, left to him in Archie’s will. He leaves the city with plans to make a new start for himself, but is surprised by the rundown state of the manor, and the unwelcoming villagers who want him gone. His only ally is Edward, a seemingly friendly local with secrets of his own.
However, it’s not only the villagers who are adverse to his presence. A malevolent spirit roams the manor, one that seeks to drive William out for good. But when he uncovers the heartbreaking tale of two men in love in the 1920’s, William strives to find peace for the spirit, ending the haunting once and for all.
But what dark secrets lie hidden in the manor walls? And will William be able to put aside his own grief to save his new home…and his life?
Girl Next Door by Rachel Meredith
When MC Calloway’s best friend Joe, an editor at the notorious gossip website Jawbreaker, calls her in for an emergency meeting, MC is unprepared for how frantic he is. But when he shows her a copy of Girl Next Door, the steamy, bestselling rom-com taking the literary world by storm, written under a pen name, points to one of the women on the front cover, and says, “that’s you,” its MC who begins to panic.
Joe is convinced that the author is Nora Pike, MC’s prickly, childhood next-door neighbor, and their former high school classmate – and MC knows he’s right, since the book describes actual events that happened their senior year, down to the tiniest details. But in the book, the characters based on MC and Nora are desperately in love, rather than the awkward acquaintances MC remembers being in real life.
Joe begs MC to go home undercover and get the scoop on Nora. That’s the last thing MC wants to do, especially for an assignment that seems morally dubious at best, but she reluctantly agrees, knowing Joe is desperate to break a big story. Crashing in her childhood home with her older brother Conrad (now married to MC’s secret high school crush, Gabby), MC begins untangling truth from fiction, trying to get close to Nora, who is just as hot and prickly as ever – and now suspicious of MC to boot. But the more involved she gets with Nora, the more it becomes clear they’re both hiding secrets . . . and MC realizes she might be in over her head.
We Are Always Tender With Our Dead by Eric LaRocca
The lives of those residing in the isolated town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire, are forever altered after three faceless entities arrive on Christmas morning to perform a brutal act of violence—a senseless tragedy that can never be undone. While the townspeople grieve their losses and grapple with the aftermath of the attack, a young teenage boy named Rupert Cromwell is forced to confront the painful realities of his family situation. Once relationships become intertwined and more carnage ensues as a result of the massacre, the town residents quickly learn that true retribution is futile, cruelty is earned, and certain thresholds must never be crossed no matter what.
A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose
In this slightly spooky paranormal romance, will two women finally break their curse and get the happily ever after they’ve fought for?
Each year, when no one is paying attention, The Dead of Night Halloween store appears in a new location with its giant sign and great low prices. No one sees them setting up or tearing down—one day it’s just there and then, two days after Halloween, it’s gone.
Pepper White knows exactly how this works. For five years, ever since the last Keeper of the Store tricked her, she has been cursed—appearing when the store does, and disappearing when it goes away. People will remember The Dead of Night, but they’ll completely forget Pepper. That is, until Christina Loring walks in the door. Their chemistry is instantaneous and, for the first time in five years, Pepper finds herself wishing for more time.
But how do you tell the girl you’re falling for that you’re cursed and that you only have ten weeks together before Christina forgets . . . everything? To have a chance at happily ever after, Pepper has to do the one thing she swore she wouldn’t—find the right treat to trick someone else into taking on the curse. But all’s fair in love and spells, and this spooky season, Pepper and Christina are ready to stir up trouble in the name of love.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish
Jamie Wendon-Dale (transmasc they/them) creates haunted houses for a living. Haunting is their life―but nobody working New Orleans’ spooky circuit actually believes in ghosts.
Edgar Lovejoy (cis he/him) is 100% haunted. No, really. Ghosts have tormented him since childhood and he’s organized his life around attempts to avoid them.
Opposites? Get ready to attract. But while Jamie’s biggest concern is that Edgar sometimes seems a bit distracted, Edgar’s fears are much greater. Not only is he scared of encountering the dearly departed whenever he leaves the house, but he’s terrified of making himself vulnerable to Jamie. After all, how do you tell someone who believes ghosts only exist as smoke and mirrors that you see them everywhere you go? And how can you trust in a happy future when you can’t even believe in yourself?
People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young
Milo is bi.
Prudence Welch has found solace in her introverted life in Baysville, a charming tourist town in Northern Ontario. Despite once dreaming of a life beyond its borders, she now finds contentment in her routines: working at her father’s gas station, writing poetry, and caring for her mother, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease shortly after Prue’s nineteenth birthday. But as her mother’s condition worsens and her father’s concerns about her own future intensify, Prue feels her world slipping further out of control.
Enter Milo Kablukov, an enigmatic wanderer whose beat-up van covered with ill-advised bumper stickers rolls into town just when Prue needs a change. It’s all too easy to let go with him, and Prue can’t help but strike up an unlikely friendship with Milo, which leads to a wild and sexy agreement between them.
Milo, a man of many adventures and countless stories, is not one to settle down. However, his brother’s urgent need for help has brought him to Baysville, and now the intriguing Prue has given him more reason to stay—especially once they start spending more time together, their chemistry intensifying, and casual-sex lessons begin at Prue’s request.
But as their temporary arrangement blossoms into something deeper, Prue and Milo discover that getting out of their comfort zones is one thing . . . taking that leap together is something else entirely.
Pantomime by L.R. Lam
This is a revised adult rerelease of the original YA title
Micah runs away from a debutante’s life at home and joins the circus, harboring two secrets–one: he was born between male and female, and two: he may have powers last seen in mysterious beings from an almost-forgotten age.
Micah discovers the joy of flight as an aerialist, courting his trapeze partner, Aenea, and confiding in the mysterious white clown, Drystan. He finally feels free. But the circus has a dark side, and Micah’s past isn’t done with him.
Meanwhile, the strange ‘ghost’ of a woman with damselfly wings whispers to Micah that only he can help magic return to the realm, and he fears she may be right…
Micah has much to learn, and he must do it quickly—before his past and future collide, with catastrophic consequences.
Cannon by Lee Lai
We arrive to wreckage—a restaurant smashed to rubble, with tables and chairs upended riotously. Under the swampy nighttime cover of a Montreal heat-wave, this is where we meet our protagonist, Cannon, dripping in little beads of regret sweat. She was supposed to be closing the restaurant for the night, but instead, well, she destroyed it. The mess feels a bit like a horror-scape—not unlike the horror films Cannon and her best friend, Trish, watch together. Cooking dinner and digging into deep cuts of Australian horror films on their scheduled weekly hangs has become the glue in their rote relationship. In high school, they were each other’s lifeline—two queer second-generation Chinese nerds trapped in the suburbs. Now, on the uncool side of their twenties, the essentialness of one another feels harder to pin down.
Yet, when our stoic and unbendingly well-behaved Cannon finds herself—very uncharacteristically—surrounded by smashed plates, it is Trish who shows up to pull her the hell outta there.
In Cannon, Lee Lai’s much anticipated follow-up to the critically-acclaimed and award-winning Stone Fruit, the full palette of a nervous breakdown is just a slice of what Lai has on offer.
A Fellowship of Games & Fables by J. Penner
This is a trad pub rerelease of the third (standalone) book in the Adenashire series
From cold rivalry to hot cocoa and warm hearts
Jez, a grumpy fennex, wants nothing to do with the winter games descending on Adenashire. She’d rather sleep through winter than deal with the snow, the noise, or the swarm of visitors in town. But a drunken boast lands her smack in the middle of the festivities and, even worse, fake dating her endlessly cheerful friend, Taenya, a woodland elf.
Plagued by chronic fatigue and past heartbreak, Jez has long guarded her heart. Not to mention she has a secret she’d rather not share. Yet Taenya’s warmth and patience begin to melt her icy exterior. Together, the two women tackle challenges―from ice sculpting to scavenger hunts―and their reluctant partnership becomes something deeper, built on laughter, trust, and a shared love of cozy corners and quiet moments.
With the help of her quirky friend group and the magic of a town that thrives on togetherness, Jez begins to open up―not just to the festivities but to the possibility of healing, connection, and maybe even joy.
Nearly Roadkill by Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan
This cyber-erotic romantic thriller, written by two queer icons in the 1990s, has been “rebooted” for today’s readers.
In this rowdy cyber-romance originally written in the 1990s, two people meet online and fall in love in every guise they can manage. As Scratch and Winc go from anonymous lovers to accidental heroes and gender outlaws, they expose the shadowy Web stretched between technology and capitalist greed, nearly becoming roadkill on the internet superhighway. With a little help from their friends including a brave teenager and a mysterious hacker, these darling rebels fight government intervention and find chosen family in this eerily prescient tale.
The 30th anniversary “reboot” edition includes an updated lens for today’s readers, as GenZ investigative journalist Drew uncovers what just might be the greatest queer love story of all time. Like Octavia Butler’s PARABLE OF THE SOWER, Margaret Atwood’s A HANDMAID’S TALE, and George Orwell’s 1984, the return of NEARLY ROADKILL is right on time with urgent lessons for our contemporary landscape.
The Maiden and Her Monster and A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love both sound perfectly sesaonal, but The Lone Wolf Cafe sounds perfectly cute. I had no idea the Pantomime releaese was an adult version – I’m 100% down for that!